The dangers of playing forward
by raincollins
Summary: A short fiction about Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez which takes place in 2011. Proudly, the first Chicharito fic on the FF Net
1. Chapter 1

**June 26, 29011**

At least it was finally over. His left shoulder hurt like hell, his right knee was palpitating, and pretty much his whole body was worn out. Rising from bed, he rubbed his shoulder as a shy grin appeared on his face: it hurt so much because he had gone nuts lifting the Gold Cup -and, of course, the two other trophies-, which was heavy enough. His father had laughed for minutes on the phone, saying it was almost his size. He chuckled: it had been worth it.

The boy ran the water for a long shower, flashes of the previous night -and morning- coming back in a random order. It had been an amazing party, because despite all the troubles, the team had made it. And made it right. They had trained hard, they had planned, and at the last minute they found themselves with five players less, a scandal, and the mordacious comments of the media. But it was over.

Coming out of the bathroom, he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked absent-minded around the room, too lazy to go downstairs, and took some fruit out of the frigo. He was very glad he wasn't a drinker, like some of his most lively partners. And, just as if on cue, his cellphone began ringing, and the boy had to manuver to reach for it somewhere on a messy entrance table:

" ¿Y ese milagro que despertaste, Gio? Isn't it, like, too early for you?"

On the other side of the phone, laughing was mixed with a groan:

"What are you talking about? It's already five! What are you doing right now?"

The soccer player looked with disbelief at the tiny clock on the bedside table: it read 5:08. He frowned, thinking a very honest 'What the...'

"Err.. breakfast?"

"More like supper, you mean? Listen, guess who did Pablo and I ran into today?"

Between munches, Javier replied:

"I dunno, who?"

"June!"

If he was glad alcohol did not produce hammering in his head, his luck ran empty at the mention of her name.

"June? How is she?"

"What do you mean 'how is she'? Is that all your going to ask? Man, we were all over her in a second and asking why wasn't she at the party and, you know, being my usual, charismatic self, and the girl... she pretty much just bowed and left."

The boy didn't answer, just dropped the apple core inside the bin and sighted. He had to stop listening to Gio, no matter how good friends they were. Surely they had grown a lot since the first times they trained together, but that mischief the guy had in his veins was not going to fade anytime soon.

"Hey, Chicharo, are you listening?"

"Aham... Sorry, Gio, but I have no idea what was that about. I have not spoken to her since the Guatemala game."

"Precisely. Well, I was _actually_ calling to remind you we have a press con in like... less than two hours."

"I know, I know... thanks for reminding me, though."

"Anytime, dude... are you still in the hotel?"

"Yup"

"Good, I'll crash there in 30. See ya!"

He tossed aside his phone. All he wanted was to take a few days off, travel to Guadalajara and forget about everything. But now, there were things he had to fix, all for taking the advice from his friend to "just play forward".

He looked around for the clean, black shirt. If tonight they had a press conference, it was certain she'd be there. Then he could set everything to rest.

**June 4, 2011**

As they arrived the city, early in the morning, Javier Hernandez couldn't help but think that Arlington was a very sad city. From the window he had seen not only the stereotypical American houses, but endless desserted areas. Sure, there were several small cities around it, but he wasn't expecting much. He shook his head as he reproached himself: as far as he knew, he came to play, and nothing more.

Their first game was to take place the next afternoon, which meant that today some of the team's men would have to go under certain formalities, check-ins, press tables, and perhaps medical testings. He looked at his coach, silently looking for an answer he already knew: if they were going to give interviews, it was certain they'd call him to appear.

So, it did not surprise him to find himself in the conference room of the hotel, in front of cameras, flashes, and microphones, something he should have been used to since his time in Chivas, but that was something he couldn't quite feel as a part of his everyday life.

Mostly, the questions where all the same: anticipations, positions, physical preparations, expectations. He answered to all questions possed by the resporter -both in English and Spanish- with respect, repeating some phrases he had used on several other occasions.

Something, or rather someone, caught his eye. Javier thought he had seen her before a couple of times, though looking much more childish than now. The long brown hair did not remain locked in a tight, french braid anymore, but long waves of it framed her fair face. Yes, he recognized her, the girl was usually standing beside Alberto Lati and assisting him.

Even now that some time had passed, she wasn't really tall, but more like petite, and kept bitting her lower lip while hoping to get some attention to her raised hand. He saw her frown, and at the same time somebody elbowed him. The girl had made a question, and he had not answered yet.

"Forgive me, I'll say it a bit louder. We know, from what the technical team has told us, where does your physical strenght come from, but how about the confidence you display on the field? What would you recall is the make of it?"

He had to grin. She knew what she wanted: an answer easy to sell in the Mexican media context.

The boy, as usual, stuttered and rambled about the answer:

"Well, well, I could say that it comes from not thinking about past or future, but always giving the best in the current moment. Confidence comes from many things... playing, playing isn't easy, but, but... I count on the support from my family, my nation, my teammates, and..." he cut himself off. Even if everyone knew, he was not going to say 'God', not out of shame, perhaps respect, or prudence. "Just to be sure that confidence does not blind our game." The girl bowed her head and mouthed a 'thank you' just in time for another reporter to follow the chain of questions.

As the whole comitee exited the room, he turned around to see her, and blushed, when she noticed and responded with a shy grin.

_tbc_...

_Thanks for reading. I'd appreciate any comments, but I would ask that if you did not like the story make of your words something constructive, and not an insult._

-Rain


	2. Chapter 2

**June 7, 2011**

After much insistence from Gio, Andr s and Memo, de la Torre finally gave way to their demands. The boys wanted to go out, to "get to know the city". Right. They were in North Carolina now, in a place called Charlotte that fortunately seemed livelier than dull Arlington. It was a complete nonsense, thought de la Torre, shaking his head as he glimpsed the boys running back to their rooms. It was Monday. What did they think they were going to find on a Monday? But he couldn't say no after the 5-0 victory they had just landed. Boys will be boys.

Giovanni bursted into the room, shaking the pillow of his mate and causing him to straighten up.

"Get dressed, dijo que si"

Javier blinked, not really catching what his friend was meaning.

"He said yes?"

"Yeah, man, Daddy said we could go out" said the boy of the curls, at the time he snatched the remote from the other guy's hand and turned off the TV.

"You know it's Monday..."

"Yes, so what? It is now or never... I don't know when he'll be so lenient again. Now come on, the clerk told me of this place where he's seen other players go..."

As his friend kept on talk,Javier looked about his luggage for something appropriated. Not that he had it that complicted, for all he seemed to wear ranged from T-shirts to Polo's. He wasn't sure that clubbing on a Monday night was a good idea, but he knew he'd miss all the fun if he didn't stick to dos Santos.

"Who else is coming? Memo?" he said, small-talking as the both share some cologne.

"Yeah, Memo, the Hobbit, Maza, Andr s and I think Pablo. I don't know about the rest, I didn't talk much to them"

As they were changing, the goalkeeper opened their door:

"You guys ready? I've got the keys!"

'That was fast' thought Hernandez. "You're driving!" yelled Giovanni "I better pack my helmet, then."

"Ha ha. Meet you in the lobby in five."

The boys grabbed their cellphones and cards, and as they did, Javier threw a strange glance at his friend.

"Oh, no... None of that" said he, placing his hands on the shoulders of his slightly taller friend, "we are all set and ready" and proceeded to 'drive' him out of the room.

Once they arrived at the club -safe, we must recognize to Memo's credit- they felt somewhat awkward. They knew most of the people. Some were players from the opposite team; some others, camera people and news staff. And the few remaining -girls, luckily for them- complete unknowns. Guardado was the first one to approach the bar, and order the same drink for everyone. One way, as he put it, to quickly fit it.

At the sound of " Salud!" everybody raised their glasses and drank.

Pablo spoke out, before everybody went on their ways:

"Remember, we must not seem drunk once we are back at the hotel, alright?"

He might as well could have tried talking to the wind, since his partners were now either behind tables or on the floor, and neither acknowledged his words.

As they were making their way to the back, Javier poked Gio and pointed discretely to his right:

"Hey, Gio... do you remember her?"

Turning in that direction, the soccer player spotted a table full of men in their 30's, adorned by a couple of young girls, the kind you'd brand as Televisa's. Gio's eyes automatically fell on a blonde one, with a very tight dress and high heels.

"Mmm, nope... have we seen them before?"

"Think again... the one in the purple skirt, not your typical uptown Barbie. Do you remember her from interviews in the past?"

With some effort, the player diverted his eyes towards the brunette of wavy hair. She was pretty, of course, but unlike her friend, she looked more like a doll than a model. No history of her in his search engine, thought.

"I don't know what you're talking about, man, was she sweet like that before?"

Javier s eyes opened wide, looking at his friend:

"Sweet, alright, but not the way you're thinking."

"If you like her... just go for it."

"I don t know. It'd be kind of weird to talk to her with all those men there."

Dos Santos had to restrain himself from smacking him in the back of his head.

"Then you don't need to talk much... why don't you just ask her to, you know, do something tonight?" and saying that, he raised his eyebrows devilish.

"Oh, you know I wouldn't! Plus, we can't!" he replied, nervously.

"I never said you'd actually do it... it's just that sweet things like her don't fall for the 'hey, do you want to go to church with me next Sunday?'" at this, Hernandez punched his shoulder hard. "Ow... I mean, ask her to bed, but you don't need to actually get there... it s just a line."

Javier looked at his friend with total disbelief.

"Trust me... just play forward. Girls love it."

With this said, the dark skinned player made his way towards the blonde, a very flirty young girl, and immediately the men took this as sign to leave them alone. Her friend, however, wasn't sure what to do, until Hernandez came into her rescue.

The boy stuttered, something he did every once in a while as a result from being nervous:

"Hi... I-I couldn't help but notice, you were at the press meeting, last week, right?"

The girl giggled.

"Yes, of course. I didn't think you'd remember... the name's June, by the way"

And she offered her hand for shaking.

"Javier though, you probably knew that, right?"

"Right."

She giggled once more in the middle of an awkward silence, and Hernandez took a look at his partner. Ok, he was already too busy, leaning all close to the girl and whispering something in her ear.

'Should I do it, or should I not?' he thought. 'Do it' he chose since, it seemed, it was working for Gio.

He leaned closed to the girl and whispered his request rather quickly. Too quickly for him because, the next thing he knew, she had slapped him on the face. Hard.

She looked towards her friend.

"Marisol, te veo en hotel. Excuse me, boys."

And with that, she left the table, and the club.

Giovanni couldn't stop laughing. Give it to Chicharito to play smooth moves like a child.

"Don't laugh, it's your fault!" he said, pressing a hand to his cheek.

He stood up and walked out of the club, trying to find her so he could apologize. Wasn't playing forward his specialty? Guess not.


	3. Chapter 3

**June 9, 2011**

It had to be a nightmare, or at least a joke. When de la Torre gathered them all together, no one could believe his words. The team suddenly felt closer, a world in itself. Five of them tested positive during the anti-drug testing. Five of them would not play that day, or anymore, the Gold Cup.

The news hit them all as a shock. It seemed impossible. When the names came out -Sinha, Bermudez, Duenas, Maza and Ochoa- all sorts of protests began to rise among the players. De la Torre explained them all that CONCACF had been clear: those players would be withdrawn from the squad, and further investigation would take place. He was confident the ingestion had been accidental, but the Committee was not going to rely on his confidence.

As they were all leaving the room, Gio felt the need to speak to his coach, and explain that he had been hanging with some of them.

"Even that night at the club, we never lost sight of each other... and Ochoa was with me, in the same table all the time. I'm very positive that they do not use drugs. C'mon, they're my friends, Manuel, I just cannot believe that."

Javier, who had followed after, backed Giovanni's words.

"It is true. We may all play for different teams and see each other only when these tournaments come up, but we know them enough to say that it was not intentional. We could testify..."

"Thank you, boys, but it is useless. I know they are completely innocent, but CONCACAF has other ways of seeing it."

Dos Santos patted his shoulder in a friendly manner, as the older man sighted:

"Now, as if this was not hard enough to deal and with a game in a few hours, I must speak to the press. Excuse me."

Feeling somewhat blue, he curly-headed retired to rest for a while in his room, confident that his friend was following. But Chicharito, however, had more important things to do.

Walking down the aisle, in plain jeans and Nike t-shirt, he was determined to follow de la Torre. Once there, he'd sneak in at the back of the press conference. He hoped June would be there. Instinctively, his hand flew to his face, to the spot where the girl's angry blow had smarted for some minutes. Never in his life had a girl hit him. He remembered how, two nights ago, he had stepped out of the club in a desperate attempt to apologize. But he didn't find her. He had not known of her the day after. He did not want to seem like a jerk to her, and the sooner he could apologize, the better.

It was more difficult that he had expected.

'This is worse than Mexico city's subway on a rush hour!' thought Javier as he hid himself behind a panel, at the back of the overly crowded room in which members of the press elbowed and pushed each other to get the best of the Mexican coach's declaration.

'Poor de la Torre' thought the young boy 'This is coming heavy on him'. Yet he didn't stop to think how the loss of 5 players was also going to be heavy on those that remained in the team. And they didn't even know yet if CONCAFAC would allow bringing replacements.

In the midst of flashes and raised hands, he saw her. She had made her way to a wall and had climbed a chair to compensate for her short height. Her wavy hair ran loose at her back, held only by a hair band. She looked very much like a high-schooler on top of that chair.

After endless minutes, a flood of men and cameras exited the room. The conference was over and he knew he did only have but a few minutes to speak to June -and find her! - before de la Torre started to miss him during roll call.

As if diving on a pool, he counted:

" Listo? Una, dos, tres..." and he swam upstream to reach the girl, who thankfully was busy chatting to Marisol, and feeling uncertain of the safety of climbing down the, even if she now sat on it.

"June?" he said, rather shyly.

The girl lifted her gaze slightly, and sneered at the sight of him. Immediately, she stood up and grabbed her friend to walk away.

"No, please. I just want to speak to you for a moment". When that gave no result, he insisted: "I just need to apologize, really".

The blondish girl, Marisol, whispered something to the petite's ear who, in response, gave her a pleading look. She glared towards Chicharito, as her friend left the now vacant room.

"I already said 'no' the last time, what makes you think you'll be any luckier now?" she let out rather angrily.

"Please, that's not what I'm here for". Being it more difficult than he expected, he began to stutter and ramble nervously. "L-look, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to offend you. I didn't even mean to do it at all. The thing, I mean. I was not really going to do it." He looked at her, hoping that in his despair she would understand.

She did not say a word.

"Look, the thing is... it's just... I-I wanted to talk to you, but didn't know how, and then Giovanni said that it could be easy if I asked you like that, after all girls like that, or so he said, and I don't really know how to..."

"Stop! Just stop!" She held out her hand to shush him, and Javier took a step back, cautious of a second smack.

"It's disgusting! People like you are the reason women like me are never taken seriously, much less at this job. Do you know how hard it is to be valued because of your knowledge or your skills? Thanks to people like you women only get jobs like this depending on their looks, or their connections. People like you think the only competence we can show about sports is how much we can drool over the players in 90 minutes!"

He was shocked. Did he really display all that the night at the club?

When Javier glimpsed at her again, he noticed a single tear rolling down her face. Then he panicked: first, the slap, and now he had made a girl cry!

"Oh, June, I'm sorry! Really! Don't cry!"

She dismissed him, and returned to the chair to sit down. Staring at his running shoes, she whispered:

"It's not just you. I just... I'm never going be good enough at this job; I'm never going to be taken seriously."

On a sudden impulse, more like an instinct, he kneeled down and embraced her, much to the girl's surprise.

"I'm deeply sorry, truly" said the forward in a soft voice to her ear. "About that and especially about that night. I was not aware of how wrong it was, and I really wish you would give me a chance to get to know you."

Pulling away, he added:

"Can I do something to make it up to you?"

Suddenly, there was a gleam in the girl's eyes. "Sure. After tonight's game, I want an exclusive."

He blinked.

"What?"

She smirked devilishly.

"You heard me. If you agree you'll meet me at the Black Swan, two blocks from here."

"But the game..."

She stood up.

"It should end at 11:30 at most. I'll be there at 2 am, if you are interested."

Chicharito was only aware of the sound her boots made as she left the room


	4. Chapter 4

To maria gzz , Maryfer7, xdancingthroughlife, AgnesSophia:  
><strong>Gracias!<strong>

I appreciate a lot your positive comments, and I hope you keep liking my story (and forgiving my typing mistakes). Thank you.

* * *

><p><strong>June 11, 2011<strong>

Javier looked at himself in the mirror, adjusting the light leather jacket to make it look just right. He smirked at his reflection, thinking that he was after all somewhat good looking. True, he wasn't the typical alpha male with broad shoulders, thick eyebrows, and a deep voice, but he had his charm, right? Still on Giovanni's quizzical look he proceeded to spray some cologne on his gray shirt, almost ready to go out.

"Don't tell me you're actually doing it" broke Gio, staring at his friend with disbelief.

"Then I won't tell you" smiled the young player, fun mixed with excitement and nervousness, in expectance of what was to come.

"Dude, if de la Torre finds out you are not here resting he's going to kill you for sure. Not to mention me, as well, for not ratting you out!"

Javier turned around. To see Dos Santos in a very uncommon worried mood was priceless.

"Ok, let's just hope he doesn't find out" said he simply, leaning on the table.

"Now, that is precisely the problem! You have always been such a goody-two-shoes; you don't even know how to do it!"

Rather defiant, Hernandez asked, impatient to get out:

"I agree, Gio. Then help me pass unnoticed."

His friend broke into laughter, dismissing him with his hand.

"Nah-uh, you won't trick me there. These two legs of mine have work to do tomorrow, and they will rest. Go, now, before I call daddy myself."

Grabbing the key to his room, Chicharito sneaked out.

**June 9, 2011**

It was close to midnight. Despite the terrible events of the evening, the game had gone so well, it had seemed magic. He knew Gio was glad; having scored two goals in the match was meaningful for his friend. Chicharito stepped out of the shower, sleepy eyes all too evident on his face, just to be received by Giovanni shacking a slip of paper on his face.

"What's this?" he asked, resisting the urge to snatch it.

"Well... I could tell you, but first I have to ask: Are you going out?"

Thru his willing-to-shut eyes, Javier glared at him.

"Let's say I have an appointment."

The curly haired guy laughed in his very light manner.

"Right. Then I can tell you. That is June's number"

"June? How did you...?"

"Marisol called me. She asked me to give it to you only if I saw you getting ready to go out. Which you are, right?"

"But of course. Why would I need the number?"

The dark skinned boy shrugged.

"She just said you should call before going out."

Javier did not wait for any other instruction, but immediately grabbed his cellphone.

Three rings after, a soft voice answered.

"Hello?"

"June? Is it you?"

He heard a giggled, and he was certain it was her.

"Yes, Javier? What are you doing?"

"Well, I was going to get dressed but Gio told me to call you and well..."

"Are you tired?" she said, interrupting.

The boy doubted his answer.

"Err... well, it was a good game, and... honestly?"

"Aham."

"Yes" he said simply, sighting.

"I know, I just wanted to know if you would keep up with what you promised. Now, why don't you go to sleep?"

"But... the Swann..."

"Tell you what, in two days we will both be in Chicago. You won't be sleepy, and I will have my recorder ready. Call me when you think you can sneak out, alright?"

Javier closed his eyes. 'Is this worth it?' he thought 'Because it's driving me crazy'

"Javier?"

"Ok, we'll see then. Good night."

June giggled, and wished him a good night before hanging up.

As he put away his phone, the boy noticed Gio staring funny at him. "What?"

"Are you serious? You were going to break rules for that girl?"

"It's more like I owe her" he explained.

"No, you don't. You want to do it."

"Goodnight, Giovanni"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll make you confess tomorrow."

**June 11, 2011**

From afar, a little pale hand waved. Soft, brown hair falling on skinny shoulders. Yes, she was there.

"Javier! You made it!" "Yes," he said, feeling oddly out of breath "I didn't think I could. I have never done it before."

"Good, there's always a first time. Now, ready to keep your part of the deal?"

Chicharito nodded, and followed the girl as she showed him the way to an empty room.

The interview was brief, and revolved mostly about the expulsion of the 5 Mexican players, the changes de la Torre made, and general comments from him and his teammates. At some point, Javier wondered if she was there for the interview or for him. He couldn't forget how quickly her attitude changed a couple of days ago, when he offered to 'make it up' to her. But once it was over, she seemed lighter, and a smile spread across her lips again.

"Well, now that you took the risk to sneak out, we should take advantage. Do you drink? 'Cause Marisol told me of this nice club a couple of blocks away, but I'm not much of a fan of clubbing myself."

Javi scratched his head.

"Me neither. Listen... I passed in front of this really good looking ice cream shop. With luck, it might still be open."

As if on cue, June's eyes brightened.

"I love ice cream! Please, show me the way!"

And as the pair walked away, lively like two child friends, they began to talk casually. Sooner or later, however, the conversation would have to turn to 'that night at the club'.

"You have to admit it, Javier, you were truly a jerk" she said, teasingly.

"I already said I'm sorry! Plus, it wasn't my idea, it was Gio's! I would never do that!"

That made June giggle, something that didn't seem too hard for him to obtain.

"Oh, but you did! With zero smoothness!" she replied between laughs. "Look, Javi, I'm not a saint, it's not like what you told me could never be. But please, as a lesson, you have to learn how to speak to women better."

He smiled, embarrassed, as he took the two baskets of ice cream: chocolate/vanilla and hazelnut.

"I promise I will. And I promise I won't do it again, really. I will not risk getting another smack like that!"

At the mention of it, June's eyes grew wide and serious. She had totally forgotten of that.

"Oh, Lord! I am so sorry! I should not have done it, either!"

Javier put his hand on her shoulder, calming her down.

"Nah, I totally deserved it."

They sat to eat their nighttime ice cream, surrounded by one of the most beautiful cities the United States could offer. In contrast to the dark, almost black sky, a great number of tall buildings gleamed and sparkled with their lights, glasses and mirrors. The streets were empty, and even if the city seemed too big and they seemed too little, in the quiet of the night they felt like it belonged only to them. Simple things are usually the greatest.  
>As Javier, like any good gentleman, walked June to her hotel, she thanked him for the night, and added:<p>

"Hey, if you don't get in trouble with your coach... would you like to go to church with me next Sunday?"

Javier was taken aback. 'Wait until Gio hears this' he thought.


	5. Chapter 5

**June 14, 2011**

After a good row of games, and despite de infamous incident, the Mexican national team arrived to New York City for their game in the quarter finals. Everyone was more than happy: if there was a place worth seeing in that huge country, it was this. A bit doubtful, de la Torre gave the guys the next day free to roam the city, since their game was not going to take place until the 18. He warned them very sternly: there were going to be restrictions expected to be met.

Giovanni only listened only to the first part, and then sneaked out while dragging Javier with him. Too much talk left them less time for action, even if the only action they were likely to have now was to sleep soundly in their beds. Both players walked down the aisle towards the room, one clearly excited for the day off.

-Those were good news I've already got things set with Marisol for tomorrow, we might do something cheesy around the city -said the curly-headed boy, raising one of his eyebrows.

Javier laughed at his silly lexicon, and regarded him in disbelief.

-Cheesy?

-Well, you get my point. I mean, after daddy lectured us with his ten thousand commandments, we just need to make the best of the situation. And what could be better than get into some trouble with the girl? By the way, are you going to call June? You didn't tell me anything after you sneaked out that day.

Interrupting, the boy replied:

-We didn't have time, we were busy.

Javier took his key out, and opened the door to their room. Gio followed behind, not ready to drop the conversation.

-What do you mean busy? Sure we had the game and a bunch of time before and after it. Was it that bad? Did she hit you again?

The young boy kept silent for a while. He fell onto his bed, closed his eyes and relaxed. After feeling the burning stare of his teammate, he felt compelled to speak:

-Actually It was great! It was natural, I felt confident, she felt at ease. It was nice.

-But... -interrupted Dos Santos.

-But there's something I don't quite like there. Either she had too good a concept of me, or she is too nice to be in the media. It feels unauthentic, you know what I m saying? I just keep wondering if there s something behind it the date was nice, but then again she only went out with me after I gave her an exclusive.

-Have you read or heard about that yet?

-No, not really. I was pretty much expecting it to be all other the TDN broadcast, but it wasn t. He paused for a moment, knowing how this would displease Gio- She asked me to see her again on Sunday, to meet with her at the church, of all places! And I ended up turning her down

Gio slapped his friend's forehead, making a tsk noise with his mouth, and sat on his bed. What was it with this boy? It was evident he fancied the girl and after all, he didn't need to take everything so seriously. Finally, he reached Javier's pocket and pulled out his phone.

-Call her. Tell her I'm meeting her friend tomorrow and that we could all go visit something together.  
>-No, I really shouldn t. She s probably busy, or something.<p>

-Do it, or you ll regret it tomorrow

Javier pretty much just wanted to sleep. To please his friend, he snatched the phone and resolved to get things over with quickly. He searched for her name in the agenda and dialed. Five rings were heard and no one answered.

-You see, Gio, it's a sign. I must not see her tomorrow.

Giovanni sighed in exasperation, and took the cellphone from his friend's hand. He dialed again, and pressed the speaker to Chicharito's ear. This time there was an answer after the third ring.

-Hello?

But it wasn't June's voice. It was a man's. Javier sat up on the bed and, taking the phone in his hands, hung up.

-There you have it. A sign.

**June 26, 2011**

He was certain that things could have been easier, and they just managed to make it all tangled.

Javier went to the closet of his hotel room, took a new polo shirt and a pair of jeans. It was too late already, and yet he had no time left for anything. He couldn t fix anything in such a short period of time, in fact, he wasn t sure he could fix anything at this point.

He sat on the bed to dress up and stared at his cellphone, almost lost under the sheets. Fine, he was just going to give it a try. He looked for the number and dialed.

-Hello?

-June? It's me, Javier


	6. Chapter 6

To Nayeli. Thank you so much for your support!

* * *

><p><strong>June 15, 2011<strong>

A day in New York City free of interviews, practices or games was a great relief to all the members of the Mexican national team. Each had their plans: places to visit, stuff to buy, people to meet. Most of the guys organized themselves in small groups just to tour around the city and have a little fun; De Nigris even suggested playing baseball for a while! Gio was up since early getting ready for his date: he was wearing a brand new shirt and had paid special attention to the way his curls tangled themselves on his head. Javier, lazily lying in bed wearing only pijama bottoms, stared at his friend, not even wanting to acknowledge that the day had begun.

"Are you seriously planning to stay in bed all day? C'mon, man, anyone's going to believe you have a hangover!"

Despite Gio's best intentions, Javier couldn't help but feel annoyed. He bent slightly, reached for the sheet that had bundled up at his feet, and covered himself completely.

"Scoring goals isn't easy, dude. I need to sleep" he groaned.

Dos Santos sighed. Chicharito was never arrogant or lazy, but he was easily blue when things didn't work his way. Especially if they involved feelings.

"Fine. I'll be gone with Marisol the whole day, but feel free to call me if you change your mind"

The young boy didn't reply, just turned to his side and buried himself deeper in bed.

"Rest well..."

It was true that he was exhausted. After all, playing an important tournament always demands a good deal of energy. But he was kidding himself if he took it as the only excuse for staying in bed. He wasn't feeling glad. For one, he had allowed himself to like this girl he barely knew. And to be completely honest, she seemed nice and sweet. But there was something that didn't completely please him about the situation. Of course, he could pretty much let it go. Guys went out with girls on one or two dates, and then they would move on when they feel they are not what they are looking for. But he wasn't really like that. He groaned and turned again. He really needed to sleep.

Meanwhile, Giovani was traveling in a taxi towards the Rockefeller Center, the beautiful girl sitting at his side. Although he knew he better avoid the subject, his curiosity won the best of him, and eventually they ended up talking about their mutual friends.

"So... do you know where is Javier taking June today? She was looking very pretty when she left" suddenly said the blonde.

The curly-haired sat up, surprised showing quite evidently on his face:

"They are going out today!"

"Well, I suppose they are... I haven't talked to her much lately, or have seen her for that matter, but after the night they sneaked out in Chicago she seemed really happy. So when I saw her getting ready to go out, wearing heels and all, I thought it was Javier who asked her out."

The young guy didn't understand well the situation, but could now relate to the way Javier was feeling. He then remember last night's call, and how a man had answered the phone, but decided not to say anything.

They arrived to the Rockefeller Center and started to goof around, even took the elevator to the top of the Observation Deck to shoot amazing pictures. They then headed to Central Park to have a snack and enjoy the experience, talking and joking constantly. They passed by the Museum Mile... though none of them actually wanted to go inside any of the realms. They took the subway, visited the port, went to Harlem, and roamed the city until they were both tired and ready for a quiet dinner. In the back of his mind, Gio was still worried about Javier, so after proposing to go to a very famous, open-air restaurant he called the little guy so he could join them. Javi had gone out for a while, mostly to buy souvenirs, and the invitation actually came as a relief. He had stumbled upon the printed version of his exclusive interview, June's name and last name clearly written. 'She must have earned a good deal for this, I'm sure, and his unexplained irritation grew bigger.

"Glad you could join us, man! Did you rest enough?"

"Yes, thankfully. Marisol, how have you been?"

"Amazing, actually. Thank you. Ready to order? I'm starving!"

Gio had already asked her not to mention whether he had met June or not, since he thought it unlikely, so nobody spoke of her. The evening was running rather well and smoothly until, paying attention to the scene across the street, Marisol herself solved the mystery no one had there to make evident.

"Everything alright, se orita?" asked Gio, as he realized the blonde girl was staring intently past them.

"Yes, I mean... my sight isn't great, but... I think I have my answer now."

Both guys turned around very indiscreetly, just to find a couple recently arriving the restaurant across. He was a tall, bald man, much older than any of them. He was still strong and handsome, and moved around like a gentleman. The lady accompanying him was June.

Javier was willing not to think any of it, but the fact that he kept his hand at her waist and was constantly playing with her hair unnerved him. He was sure the man that answered the phone before was him.

"Hey, Gio... are we still going out with the guys to drink? I haven't called Aldo yet"

With disbelief, Dos Santos held back the 'are you seriously asking for alcohol' question and simply nodded. The guy had to grow out of childhood at some point, that was true.

So in a couple of hours, after dropping Marisol off and agreeing to meet later at the club, they found themselves partying as hard as they could with a game coming in no more than three days. Javier, being the good guy that he was, fighted his first impulsive need to drink. It was pointless: surrounded by his teammates he gave it by peer-pressure. But his body was not used to alcohol and a couple of beers had him already going about things too lightly.

Just in cue, Marisol appeared at the club... with June by her side. They looked beautiful, and more than a guy tried to buy them a drink before Gio cut in successfully.

"So nice to see you again..." he said, greeting June, and started introducing her to the guys. Javier kept slightly apart, looking at her with some resentment that alcohol had probably stimulated. She was beautiful, yes, but surely a player just like many of the girls who worked at Televisa, always trading something for a good job position.

When their eyes met, June saw his unexpected anger, too. She was upset as well: he had not called her since the time in Chicago, not looked for her except for that brief text message saying he could not see her on Sunday. He had sworn he was not a player but even though he had not taken anything from her, she still felt somewhat toyed with. How could she not believe now that he wasn t serious that first time?

They didn't even say hi. In Javier's mind, the words he had read earlier printed on that paragraph that summarized the interview kept repeating themselves: "Mexico still has hope and strength. Our striker is determined to win. If we can trust someone to play forward, that is Javier Hern ndez"

He stepped in, breaking the circle formed by his teammates, pulled her close to him roughly, and started kissing her.


	7. Chapter 7

June 26, 2011

"Please don't hang up!" he begged, his hand suddenly trembling as he held the communication device.

"You have one minute, Javier" replied the girl coldly.

Chicharito took a deep breath. So much had gone wrong so quickly. He couldn't risk that again. For once, despite being nervious as heck, he was determined not to stutter.

June 15, 2011

Everything happened so quickly, so suddenly, that at first no one actually reacted. After a couple of seconds, however, shock was visible on everyone's faces. June herself didn't know what to do. She liked the kiss, of course, but this was much unexpected.

Gio decided to create a bit of a distraction and placed his hand on Aldo's shoulder, starting a conversation.

"So, Marisol, this is the guy that..."

The guys, quickly grasping his intentions, turned away from the ackward scene, as Javier slowly stepped back just to gaze into June's fearful eyes. He knew he had acted in a furious impulse, and suspected the reason was jelaousy, but he was even more puzzled about the expression on the girl's face.

"I... I was not expecting you here" said he, suddenly shy again.

"Well... I was not expecting _that_!" replied June, thinking that perhaps she could play along this time. After all, it was only a kiss.

Javier placed his hand on June's bare arm. He was really warm, and the contact against her icy skin made her shiver. He leaned forward to whisper into her ear:

"Look, this is not really our kind of place, so... why don't we just go out? We could take a walk or something."

The girl hesitated for a while. Looking carefully, and despite the darkness of the room, she could still see some kind of anger in the young man's eyes, and the way he spoke was nothing like when they had met before.

"Ok... I guess that should be better."

Javier nooded, and placed a hand on her back to guide her gently. Through his sligthly clouded mind, his conscience kept debating his impulses, unsure of his next moves. Without letting anyone else know, they abandoned the club and began walking. Gio got a glimpse of them as the exited the door, shockingly noticing that they were now holding hands.

After taking a few more steps, the boy gave in to his impulses, pulling June close to him and kissing her again. From the back his mind, he kept thinking this was not right, that he shouldn't act like that. But his jelaousy told him that she deserved it, that perhaps that was even natural for her. His hands began traveling over her body, exploring. The girl reacted at this, pushing him away.

"Javier! What is wrong with you?"

"What? Don't you want this?"

"Not now, and certainly not like this. Did you actually drink a lot or what?"

"Then how does it work? Do I have to offer you another interview, a job?"

She stepped back, annoyed and angry.

"WHAT? You're talking non-sense, are you sure you didn't drink?"

"It's not what I drank, it's you! Why didn't you tell me you are with someone? What are you playing here, June? You make me like you so you get get interviews, exclusives, or what?"

"I don't know what you are talking about"

"Oh, no? You didn't see anyone earlier tonight? He sure looked very real to me... rich and important,too."

After a couple of seconds, it hit her. How dumb of him...

"You're an idiot. That was Jacobo Lati, Alberto's brother... and my godfather. He heard I was in the city and we have been catching up, and yes, we went to have some dinner tonight. I haven't seen him in at least two years, since he lives here."

Suddenly, the dizziness abandoned him.

"June.. I... I thought..."

"Save it, I don't care. I really don'tunderstand you, Javier, but truly you are not the good man everyone thinks you are."

She refrained from hitting him one more time, and just turned her back to him. As she started to walk away, Javier tried to stop her, but she snapped.

"Don't. This time, truly, I don't want to see you anymore."

The boy let her go, and sighted as he leaned against a wall. Stupid. It had all been stupid, because he had acted wrongly.

He had lost his chance. 


	8. Chapter 8

June 26, 2011

In his best effort, he steadied his voice and told her simply and clearly:

"One minute won't be enough, and we cannot speak about this over the phone. I know you will be at the press conference, please meet me afterwards. Once you've heard me, you don't have to ever see me again."

At first, June was thrown aback by the change in Javier's voice. He wasn't usually this confident or certain when talking to her, yet she didn't like the idea of complying.

"I thought that was already stated, Javier. I do not want to see you."

"I know, and I understand. I just... It's been a crazy affair, and I just want to give you my final apology for it. Please?"

As expected, she did not reply for a long time, until he demanded to know the answer, calling her my her name.

"Yes? Well, as you said, I'll be there anyway. 'Til then" and she hung up.

He resumed dressing up, and by the time Gio arrived he was pretty much done. Not that he had to do much, mind you. The curly-haired boy crashed on the bed, turning the TV on to some random sitcom and looking at his mate every now and then to see if he was going to tell him something or not.

"Well? What was that all about?" he finally asked, curiousity getting the best of him.

The young boy didn't say anything, just looked around with a puzzled expression.

"Don't play fool! June!"

"Look, I really don't want to talk about it, and it is none of your business. I'm going to buy some candy, I'll meet you at the conference room" And with that, he took his card and left the room.

He wasn't truly looking to be rude to his friend, but his mind was lost elsewhere and his patience was gone. An hour was still to pass before the press conference started, and even then he'd have to endure it all and wait some more.

He paced around the hotel floors and the few shops that opened at the attached mall, but he wasn't really looking for anything, he was just eager to have time fly.

Finally, he met the coach and some of his teammates who would be present to answer the questions of a starving crowd of news reporters. They walked together and took their places, everyone beaming with joy but him. He was just focused on a single task: scanning the room.

As the murmurs gave way to silence and the proper presentations were done, Javier had to recognize, much to his dislike, that June was nowhere to be seen in the room. He inspected every single persone present, face by face, but she was not there. With a sight, he turned his attention to the questions and the words of the other team members and played along, doing his best to smile.

Some thirty minutes passed and the press thanked the guys with a loud round of applauses. They were all very satisfied, with both the results of the conference and the game. Most of them stayed to comment and arrange things, while the players left.

Everyone was ready to finish packing and leave, so they walked to their rooms. Gio put an arm around his friend, feeling his disappoinment and frustration. He knew that with Javier it was better not to talk it out right away, things like this would come out later, with a ball between them.

But as they arrived to their floor, they were shocked by her vision. She was standing outside their door, wearing a girly dress and a grey coat. She looked restless and for a moment, she didn't notice them walking to her.

"June! I thought you were not showing up!" said Javier.

Gio immediately got his card and opened the door.

"I'll pack both our bags, so you can have some time" said he, as he dissapeared inside the room.

In silence, they headed to the elevator and towards the last floor. There they might have some privacy, and might be able to talk.

"I just need you to make it quick, Javier. I do also have a plane to catch"

The boy gathered courage and spoke, briefly but honestly.

"I made a fool of myself, June, and I recognize it and regret it. I was acting like a person that I am not, in hopes of impressing you or perhaps somebody else. But that is no excuse, and I have simply no way to justify myself. I apologize deeply, because I know my behaviour hurt you and you felt played with. It was never my intention, but I did nothing to help it. It was foolish to treat our few gatherings like something that it was not, making things too fast, and thinking too much of it. I know I do not deserve it, but it would make me feel better if you accepted my apology. That's it."

She was looking at him the whole time he spoke, and saw him stutter, blush, play with his hands and try to keep his gaze up. When he stopped talking she looked far away, into the horizon of the city that extended before them. It had been a very strange affair, indeed, and she was not sure she knew him at all even now.

She kept silent, and he moved about, torn between staying or fleeing to his room. Finally, he saw her pull something out of her pocket, look at it as if to confirm something, and then back at him.

Without a word, she put her arms around him in a friendly hug, and as she stepped back, placed the paper in his hand.

As she ran to the elevator and left, he read what was held in his shaking hands.

"Juegos Panamericanos 2011. Junta de informaci n y protocolos para prensa y comunicaciones. Guadalajara, Jalisco. 4 de julio de 2011."

THE END

Thanks to anyone who might still read this, after the long time it took to write.  
>I hope you enjoyed this little bit of a story.<p>

Rain 


End file.
